The Cars That Made America

The one thing that I found lacking in an otherwise very good series is the almost complete disregard for the independent carmakers. In many cases these companies and the people who ran them took the point for Automotive innovation, while the big three simply copied their innovations. Companies like Studebaker, Nash, Hudson aren't even mentioned.

Don't let the sour grapes from the gear heads fool you. This docudrama achieves its purpose of a comprehensive overview of the auto industry's emergence and integral part of the industrial revolution in the United States. And, how it interconnected with, steel, railroads, petroleum, finance, a national highway road system, the rise of labor unions, war efforts, and all the rest, to become the greatest economic engine the world has ever seen.

I was, as a gearhead of over 50 years, hoping this would be a well done and informative series. I was extremely disappointed. The portrayals were not as accurate as one would expect from the History Channel. The narrator was lackluster in his delivery. The one thing that was like fingernails on the chalkboard was the cars shown. Whoever made the decision on what to use should never work again. A 1956 Mercury hardtop was supposed to be a Chevrolet "Hot Rod"? Many other glaring errors were made as well. If you can't strive for accuracy why bother. If they thought nobody would notice, they were wrong.

A good series Which I enjoyed. However, the 3rd Episode was quite Chevy biased and was not kind to Ford. I am a Man of good Morals, but Lee Iacocca was quite a genius and is portrayed as a stuffy Man of Morals, while John DeLorean, a Creative man, but Someone whose ego was huge, which held him back from being great, was Made to look like an automotive genius, and His Cocaine arrest was played down.. Questionable, yep, questionable...

Serious omissions were made in some of the "also-rans." The Stanley Steamer was not mentioned. And, too often, starting with the mid-50s, any car nearby would do. Other reviewers already mentioned the Mercury being touted as a Chevy. Later, DeLorean was modifying a 1963 Buick LeSabre. At least it was the right car company. But, these Buicks had horrible top ends; the valves were way too small to accommodate efficient breathing. I'm sure an early model of GTYO could have been found top make it more realistic.